Penalties – those dastardly things that heap enormous amounts of pressure on strikers everywhere. The moment the referee blows his whistle and points to the spot, everyone assumes that the team’s that got the penalty will score - and invariably they do. But quite often the pressure can get to the kicker and they can miss the target altogether, or draw an excellent save from the likes of penalty stopping specialist Diego Alves.

12. Cristiano Ronaldo – Real Madrid (13.8%)For the sheer number of penalties the man takes, his consistency is rather remarkable – his tally stands at 9 missed in 65

11. Lionel Messi – Barcelona (16.0%)Not known to be a great penalty taker, the Argentine magician is not too shabby either with 8 missed in 50

10. Lyuboslav Penev – Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Celta Vigo (17.3%)Our first, but not last mention of Atletico Madrid is with the Bulgarian striker who was usually clinically from inside the box. From the spot, however, he has missed 9 in 52

9. Hugo Sanchez – Real Madrid (21.1%)The Mexican predator rarely missed from open play. From the penalty spot, however, it was a different ball game – his tally stands at 15 missed in 71

8. Dani – Atheltic Bilbao (22.72%)The Basque tasked with the penalty-taking duties for his legendary club back in the day has missed 10 in 44

7. Roberto López Ufarte – Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid (25.7%)The little devil was a great striker for both his major clubs, but he did miss 9 in 35 spot-kicks

2. Samuel Eto’o – Mallorca, Barcelona (27%) (he didn’t take a pen in his 3 appearances for Real Madrid, so) The Cameroonian may have been lethal from open play, but surprisingly his spot-kick record was less than top notch.He’s missed 1/3rd of his 27 kicks. 9, that is.

1. Juan Carlos Aguilera – Atletico Madrid, Tenerife (42.1%)The Spaniard who started life as a right winger and then migrated to right back missed 8 of the 19 penalties he attempted.